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Razor-Billed Auk
Sale
Razor-Billed Auk
Sale
Razor-Billed Auk
Sale
Razor-Billed Auk
Razor-Billed Auk Thumbnail
Razor-Billed Auk Thumbnail
Razor-Billed Auk Thumbnail
Razor-Billed Auk Thumbnail

Razor-Billed Auk

Builder Testimonials

The Razor Billed Auk is a fast boat suitable for long distance touring or recreational racing.

  • Skill Level Advanced
  • Estimated Build Time 150 Hours

Builders undertaking this kit should be comfortable reading traditional boat plans, and have at their disposal stationary tools such as a tablesaw and a bandsaw. The drawings and documentation assume a good working knowledge of woodworking, epoxy, and fiberglass techniques.

This time estimate assumes builders have already built a couple of stitch-and-glue boats.

Build this boat if...

  • You are looking for fast kayak that can be used for racing or for touring.
  • You enjoy participating in long-distance adventures such as the Blackburn Challenge or the Bay Paddle
  • You are an admirer of Nick Schade's design genius.

  • Need for Speed

    For racers seeking escape velocity

  • For Woodcrafters

    Boatbuilders, sharpen your block planes! 

  • Quality Materials

    Only the best professional-grade materials

It's hard to find designs like this in the production world. Combining the strength and light weight of wood-epoxy composites with simplified construction, this one's designed to be fast and fun.

If you love woodworking, this is a project where you get to make wood shavings. You'll need to be comfortable with a sharp plane and a Japanese pull-saw, but the reward is a work of craftsmanship that's all your own.

Quality Materials

Our kits ship with the same first-class marine plywood, timber, epoxy, and fiberglass that we use in our own boatbuilding shop. It's not cheap, but these boats are meant to last forever!

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Builders also looked at...

Take One of our Boatbuilding Classes

We offer classes for many of the boats we sell. Teaching sites stretch from Maryland to Washington State and from Maine to California. Click here to find out more.
Razor-Billed Auk
Razor-Billed Auk
Razor-Billed Auk
Razor-Billed Auk
Razor-Billed Auk Thumbnail
Razor-Billed Auk Thumbnail
Razor-Billed Auk Thumbnail
Razor-Billed Auk Thumbnail

Specifications

Length
19' 0"
Beam
20"
Cockpit Size
30" x 17"
Hull Weight
46 lbs.
Paddler Weight
150-220 lbs.
Max Payload
350 lbs.
Knee Height
11"
Max Men's Shoe Size
11

Performance

Stability

4 out of 5
Very Tippy
Very Stable

Speed

4 out of 5
Cruiser
Racer

Cockpit Room

3 out of 5
Close Fit
Huge Cockpit

Payload

4 out of 5
Day Tripper
Freight Hauler

Ease of Construction

2 out of 5
Requires Patience
Very Easy

Overview

The Razor Billed Auk is a fast boat suitable for long distance touring or recreational racing. It has enough volume to carry gear for an extended tour and has the long waterline and low wetted surface area to move efficiently through the water at speed. This boat is less stable than others in the Great Auk family, but will still be quite comfortable for skilled paddlers in rough water. Due to its length it can bog down a little in steep chop, but it will still be faster than most sea kayaks.

This design was originally created with recreational racing in events such as the Blackburn Challenge in mind, and it has proved quite successful at that purpose, but it was not intended to be a flat-out racing machine with the inherent compromises required in such a design. It is intended to function well as a capable touring sea kayak for those people who want to go places quickly and efficiently.

Do you fit in this kayak?  Study our kayak fit chart.


Our strip-built and hybrid kits ship with 50% Western Red and 50% Alaskan Yellow cedar bead-and-cove strips. Photos on our website and printed materials may show patterns and accent strips with walnut or other materials. Optional walnut strips are available and can be shipped with kit orders. 

Buying Options

Choose Your Boatbuilding Experience

Start your kit-building experience by selecting the option that best fits your goals. Don’t have the confidence to build on your own? No worries! Join a boatbuilding class or hire us to build a custom boat for you.

  1. Select Your Configuration

    Build From a Kit:
    Most builders start with the Base Kit. It’s all there.
    Build From Scratch:
    Build from scratch using our Plans & Manual.
    Build From a Wood Parts Only Kit:
    For those who have their own supply of epoxy, fiberglass, and hardware.
    Forms and Strongback Only Kit:
    Just the computer-cut stuff: the forms and strongback.
    Order Study Plans or Manuals:
    Like to study up a bit first? Download study plans or a copy of the assembly manual. 

  2. Choose Options and Add-ons

    Additional Options

    You can choose from a range of popular options to outfit your boat, many of which are intended to ship with the Base Kit. 

  3. Get Building!

    Computer-cut kits feature all of the latest tweaks to ease assembly, including pre-drilled holes for stitching-and-gluing, puzzle joints, and precision in the fitting of parts.

Standard Configuration

Sale
$2,079.00 $1,780.00

This Auk kit includes The Strip-Built Sea Kayak, CNC-cut for...

This Auk kit includes The Strip-Built Sea Kayak, CNC-cut forms & strongback, hatch blanks, epoxy kit, fiberglass, precision-milled bead-and-cove Western Red & Alaskan Yellow cedar strips, foam "tractor" seat, Rapid Pulse backband, Keepers footbraces, hardware, and drawings.

Alternative Configurations

$1,549.00

This Auk kit includes drawings, CNC-cut forms & strongbac...

This Auk kit includes drawings, CNC-cut forms & strongback, hatch blanks, and precision-milled bead-and-cove Western Red & Alaskan Yellow cedar strips.

 
$385.00

This Auk kit includes drawings, and CNC-cut forms & stron...

This Auk kit includes drawings, and CNC-cut forms & strongback.

 
$235.00

This Auk kit includes drawings, and CNC-cut forms.  

This Auk kit includes drawings, and CNC-cut forms.

plans

 
$129.00

Builders who are familiar with Nick Schade's construction met...

Builders who are familiar with Nick Schade's construction methods may choose to build their Razor-Billed Auk kayak from plans only.  

Additional Options

$195.00

Many kayaks can benefit from a retractable skeg. There will b...

Many kayaks can benefit from a retractable skeg. There will be conditions in which no skeg is needed at all, other occasions when just a little skeg will help, and days in smooth water with a strong breeze over the aft quarter when a skeg is essential.

The Skeg Kit is comprised of three basic components: the skeg itself, the skeg box where the skeg lives in the boat, and the control slider. The skeg is a fin that can be retracted in and out. The skeg box is just big enough and wide enough to hold the skeg. The control slider is mounted up near the cockpit where it is convenient to the paddler.
$75.00

Nick Schade suggests MiniCel Foam for bulkheads in his boats....

Nick Schade suggests MiniCel Foam for bulkheads in his boats. Two 3-inch blocks ready for fitting.
$24.95

A kit for flush hatch hold-downs, requiring no deck hardware ...

A kit for flush hatch hold-downs, requiring no deck hardware to sully your strip-planked deck. Internally mounted bungies hook to hatches. Includes machined wooden parts, hardware, and instructions. Read the instructions here.

Kit includes enough material for two hatches. Specifically: eight wooden blocks, bungie cord, stainless steel hooks, and hatch cover reinforcements.

Almost any hatch system, flush or otherwise, will work with the Invisible Hatch Hold Down scheme. These kayak kits include flush hatch kits: Shearwaters, Arctic Hawk, Sea Island Sport, Night Heron S&G and all Guillemot strip-planked kayaks.

 
$21.95

By Nick Schade. 202 pages, 1998. "Strip-building" - assemblin...

By Nick Schade. 202 pages, 1998. "Strip-building" - assembling a pile of thin wood strips into a functional hull - has been a popular canoe-building method for many years. Now boatbuilder Nick Schade, an engineer by training and a self-professed sea kayaking addict, has refined this time-tested method to build the more complex shapes of sea kayaks. The method is simple, forgiving, allows a liberal amount of design flexibility, and requires a minimum number of tools.

In The Strip-Built Sea Kayak, Schade presents full plans for three elegant designs inspired by the grace and seaworthiness of the Inuit and Aleut skin boats. Profusely illustrated instructions provide the details that will guide you through the process.

Videos

How to Assemble the Little AUK Strongback: Step-by-Step Guide S4-E4

Strip Planking the Little Auk 11, Part 1, S4-E5

Finishing the Hull Bottom of the Little Auk 11, Part 2, S4-E6

A Guide to Fitting the Outer Stem & Fairing a Strip Planked Kayak. S4-E9

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I order this kit?

Click on the Buying Options tab the top left of this page and follow the directions.

If I buy one of your boat kits, what else will I need?

Chesapeake Light Craft kits contain all the parts and materials you need to build the boat. The kit includes pre-cut parts, hardware, epoxy, fiberglass, plans and instructions. Our standard kayak kits also have the seats, hatches, bulkheads, footbraces, and the deck-rigging. About the only thing kits don't include is the final finish: paint or varnish. Your boat's color scheme is entirely up to you.

You'll need a few ordinary tools, like a cordless drill, a decent 5-inch sander, and for most boats a wood plane. You'll need disposables such as sandpaper and paint brushes and mixing cups.

You need a workspace a couple of feet bigger all the way around than the boat you want to build, and you'll need to be able to maintain temperatures between about 55 degrees F and 95 degrees F during steps when epoxy is being applied or curing. Since a lot of boatbuilding gets done during winter, we've written up some tips on how to heat a cold space cheaply, easily, and safely.

How much does this boat weigh and how much can it carry?

The weight and payload of this boat, along with other statistics such length and beam, can be found under Specs in the Specifications section, which is just below the lead image seen at the top of this page.

Can you send me the plans digitally?

Sorry, but until digital rights management technology for marine architectural work catches up to that used for books and music, we are unable to transmit digital plans. Currently, only study plans and manuals can be sent digitally.

Classes

Take One of our Boatbuilding Classes

We offer classes for many of the boats we sell. Teaching sites stretch from Maryland to Washington State and from Maine to California. Click here to find out more.

View Classes

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